So I checked on the parks bureau website and found an appropriate class--pre-goldfish. We decided to have it after school, and signed her up for the 6-6:30 slot. The only evening time open didn't start for a few weeks, so in the intervening time, Joe and I decided to take her to the pool several times to get her used to it. The closest swimming pool to our house (and the one where she would be taking her swimming lessons) was Mt. Scott Community Center. So we went there one evening, after buying her two new suits from Freddy's 'cause we couldn't find her old one, only to discover, once again, that my child is full of contradictions.
First of all, I want to state that there were quite a few people at the pool. And Aria can be shy--really--especially with people she doesn't know well. But it still took her perhaps 10 minutes to fully get into the shallow end (and by shallow, I mean 1 foot deep) of the pool. And even then, she didn't want to get her hair wet. Well, I can't really blame her for that. I didn't want to get my hair wet, either. That first time, she stayed away from all things which sprayed water on people, as well as (and I thought this a very smart decision on my daughter's part) most areas in which the annoying, splashing, middle school boys were hanging out.
It wasn't until we had been in there about half-an-hour that we discovered my daughter's true joy: the water slide. Appearing to loom hundreds of feet into the air to a mother who's envisioning her often tentative daughter zooming down it alone and into the depths of the ocean-like pool below, the yellow slide had actually caught her attention from the beginning. But since she didn't even want to put her face in the water, I thought it unlikely that she would be happy with plunging into the water below the slide. So here's where Daddy comes in. Up the went together, while I waited at the bottom. Giggling, they came down with her in his lap, and then, at the last minute, held aloft so that she did indeed not get her face wet. She loved it. Again. And again. I think the count the first day was eight times on Daddy's lap. The next day I think they went down eleven.
So swim class is now over. We realized after those first few visits to the pol that Aria would do well with goggles, and we got her a set of three at Costco. They helped, but she till doesn't like getting her face wet. But she loves the songs. And I learned new things, like that you can't breath in through your nose while humming. So we're taking a few weeks off while my father is visiting, but we'll try to get her in the pool to practice. The teacher says she should be in the goldfish class again until she's more comfortable putting her face in the water. And she's already excited about having lessons again. Maybe I'll even manage the slide with her next time.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
